Short-handed Yanks just keep winning

Tuesday

Jun 28, 2011 at 2:00 AM

NEW YORK — The Yankees found themselves in an interesting place Monday for a team that is without its starting shortstop and has watched its bullpen follow the rotation with one pitcher after another hitting the disabled list.

Reuters

NEW YORK — The Yankees found themselves in an interesting place Monday for a team that is without its starting shortstop and has watched its bullpen follow the rotation with one pitcher after another hitting the disabled list.

That place?

At the top of the AL East and holding the best record (45-31) in the American League.

Winning 12 out of 16 games will help you get there, which is exactly what the Yankees have done since they were swept by the Red Sox for the second time in as many months.

Alex Rodriguez has put the club on his shoulders lately, and the weight hasn't caused his nagging right knee to buckle. Jorge Posada has looked more like the player Yankees fans revered and not the man who earned their loathing by begging out of the lineup. CC Sabathia was the first to win 10 games in the majors.

For all the star-studded exploits, as well as the hubbub about the Yankees legends who returned over the weekend, this year's team might be symbolized just as much by the names that aren't as easily remembered over time.

"Everyone's stepping up," Rodriguez said.

Which has been important considering how many of the Yankees have stepped out.

As the Yankees prepare to take on Milwaukee on Tuesday through Thursday at Yankee Stadium, then head to Citi Field for another Subway Series scrape with the Mets this weekend, some other very important events will be taking place far away.

There's Derek Jeter to monitor in Tampa, Fla., where the Yankees captain was expected to begin a running program early this week to rehab his right calf strain. Still six hits from 3,000, Jeter has done some light jogging, but flat-out running is among the final steps needed for his return, which isn't expected to come by Wednesday, his eligibility date.

That absence has been eased by the play of rookie Eduardo Nunez, who has been shaky defensively but stepped up with a big hit Sunday to knock in the eventual game-winning run.

While Freddy Garcia prepared for his Tuesday start against the Brewers, his partner in pitching reclamation projects, Bartolo Colon, was scheduled to throw a simulated game of 50 pitches Monday to rehab his left hamstring strain.

Phil Hughes is expected to make another rehab start Wednesday. He has gained some velocity after a drop in it earlier in the year.

The rotation patchwork job has been helped by Ivan Nova, who impressed manager Joe Girardi on Sunday, even when he didn't have his best stuff and allowed three home runs to Colorado.

"He had to use all of his pitches today and he did it," Girardi said after Nova struggled through six innings and kept the Yankees in the game, allowing four runs.

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